


There Is a Light That Never Goes Out

by Lothiriel84



Series: And after all this time [1]
Category: MarsCorp (Podcast)
Genre: First Meetings, Foreshadowing, Gen, I Don't Even Know, Interns & Internships, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-20
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2019-06-13 13:31:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15365742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lothiriel84/pseuds/Lothiriel84
Summary: Take me anywhereI don't care, I don't care, I don't care





	There Is a Light That Never Goes Out

He heaved a sigh of relief as soon as the last of those snotty kids scuttled off, herded away by their exasperated teachers who looked like they could definitely use a drink right now.

Well, at least there weren’t going to be any more school trips to the laboratory facilities until next year, and by then, he wouldn’t be the youngest intern anymore; let the newbies deal with hoards of new pestiferous schoolchildren, while he finally got to focus his energies on rising through the ranks as well charming his way up to much more exciting positions within the department.

He switched off the lights in the main laboratory, and went through the adjacent rooms to check for any damage left in the wake of those little pests’ footsteps. Everything appeared to be reasonably in order, with one notable exception – as it turned out, one of the pupils had somehow managed to either get lost or be left behind, and was currently absorbed in some sort of contemplation of one of the experiments in progress that involved actual living plants.

He rolled his eyes in annoyance, cleared his throat to make his presence known to the intruder; the kid started at the unexpected noise, immediately cowering in fear in a way that gave him pause even in spite of his previous reservations.

“Hey buddy, you know your friends are probably halfway to the classroom by now, right?”

“I’m sorry, Sir, please don’t punish me,” the kid uttered in near panic. “I didn’t touch anything, I promise.”

Well, that was a bit of an overreaction, though he found it quite amusing that the boy had seen fit to address him as ‘Sir’. He shot him the most unthreatening smile he could pull, and placed a friendly hand on his shoulder for good measure.

“It’s all right, buddy, this is going to be our little secret, okay? Now, what was it that interested you so much?”

“Nothing,” the boy shook his head, his eyes still wide with an odd mixture of trepidation and awe. It took him a few seconds to realise that to the boy’s overexcited imagination, he probably looked like a proper, grown-up scientist, rather than the baby of the department, and he was damned if he wasn’t going to play up to his naive expectations.

“Come on, buddy, I saw you looking at those plants as if they were a pretty young lady. You can tell me, you know.”

“I – I’m not supposed to like plants. Or science. My mother wants me to become a doctor, like my grandfather did before me.”

“What a bunch of nonsense. Science is miles better than medicine. Where do you think those losers would be, without our valuable research and our tests?”

He had half expected the kid to stiffen at the way he’d just brushed away his parents’ opinion on the matter; however, the smile that lit up the little boy’s face might as well be the brightest he’d ever seen, and for a moment there he savoured the marvellous feeling of being looked up to like some sort of benevolent deity dispensing their wisdom upon the world.

“Do you think I could become a scientist, one day?”

“I’m sure you will, buddy. Now, what do you say if you and I go and get a fizzy drink or something from the canteen?”

The boy’s sweet smile lingered for a moment, before he seemingly remembered his manners. “Can I have glass of orange juice, please, and thank you?”

“Of course you can,” he chuckled, and gently ushered him out of the lab. 


End file.
